Mobile payment system and method using alias

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems are disclosed for allowing financial transactions to be conducted using mobile phones. A payer initiates a transaction by sending a payment request message from a mobile phone which specifies the payee and amount to be paid. Payees are identified by unique aliases, which are maintained in a database. Methods for assembling the enrollment and alias database are included.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application is a non-provisional of and claims priority toU.S. provisional patent application No. 60/871,898, filed on Dec. 26,2006, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety for allpurposes.

BACKGROUND

The use of mobile phones to conduct financial transactions is growing inpopularity. Various means of using mobile phones to conduct financialtransactions have been tried. The most common involves sending a paymentto a payee using the payee's cellular phone number as an identifier.This approach gives rise certain difficulties, however. First, the payeemust have a cellular phone which is capable of receiving the payments.Second, the payer must know the payee's phone number. As cellular phonenumbers tend to change frequently, a payer must make certain that thephone number being used is current. Otherwise, the payer runs the riskof sending a payment to an unintended third party, who has been assignedthe intended payee's old phone number. Further, in some cases, the payeeand payee may not wish to reveal personal information such as theircellular phone numbers to each other. Accordingly, there is a need for anew method of conducting financial transactions using phones.

Embodiments of the invention address these and other problems.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Embodiments of the invention are directed to methods and systems forallowing payments to be made using mobile phones.

One embodiment of the invention is directed to a method. The methodcomprises receiving a payment request message from a mobile phoneoperated by a payer, wherein the payment request message includes arequest to pay a payee a predetermined amount of money, and wherein thepayment request message comprises a personal alias uniquely associatedwith the payee and a transaction amount. The payment request message isanalyzed to determine if the payer is authorized to pay the payee. Apayment notification message is sent to the payee indicating that apayment from the payer to the payee has been made.

Another embodiment of the invention is directed to a method. The methodcomprises receiving a payment request message from a payer, the paymentrequest message comprising an amount of money to be paid to a payee andan alias associated with the payee, where the payment request message issent by the payer via a mobile phone operated by the payer. Anauthentication request message is sent to the mobile phone in responseto the message. An authentication token is received from the payer inresponse to sending the authentication request message. Theauthentication token is sent by the payer using the mobile phone, andthe authentication token that is associated with the payer is verified.If the authentication token is verified as being associated with thepayer, a payment for the amount of money to the payee using the alias isinitiated.

Another embodiment of the invention is directed to a method. The methodcomprises receiving a registration request from a payee to create analias uniquely associated with that payee, where the request specifiesthe alias requested. The payee operates a mobile phone and can receiveor make payments using the alias and mobile phone. The alias is comparedwith other previously registered aliases associated with other payees.If the requested alias has not already been associated with anotherpayee, the alias associated with the payee is registered.

Other embodiments of the invention are directed to systems, computerreadable media, and devices adapted to implement the above methods.

These and other embodiments of the invention are described in furtherdetail below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a system according to an embodiment ofinvention.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of components in a computer.

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of components in a mobile phone.

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart illustrating an alias registration process.

FIG. 5 shows information that can be provided when registering aliases.

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart illustrating a payment method according to anembodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the invention are directed to making person-to-person(P2P) and/or person-to-business (P2B) payments, using mobile phones. Inembodiments of the invention, a payer may send a payment request messageto a payment processing network. The payment request message identifiesthe desired payee using an alias, which is uniquely associated with thepayee. The payment processing network may then determine who the payeeis using an enrollment and alias database, and may forward the paymentrequest message to a payer institution. The payer institution may be apayer bank and the payer may have a payer account associated with it.The payer institution may thereafter analyze the payment request messageand may authorize or not authorize the transaction depending on whetherthe payer has sufficient credit and/or funds in the payer's account. Ifthe payment request is approved by the payer institution, the payerinstitution may thereafter transfer funds from the payer's account atthe payer institution to a payee account at a payee institution.

The payment request message may be sent from the payer's mobile phone inany suitable manner. In one example, a payer may send the paymentrequest message to the payment processing network via a Web pageaccessed by the phone. In another example, the payer may send thepayment request message to the payment processing network using an SMSmessage (i.e., a text message). In yet another example, the payer maysend the payment request message to the payment processing network usinga software application on the phone.

The payment transactions according to embodiments of the invention maytake place in any suitable context. For example, suitable paymenttransactions may involve purchases of goods and services from merchantsor individuals in a person to business or person to person context.However, in some embodiments of the invention, a payer may make paymentsand the payments can be made without any return consideration (e.g., agood or service purchased). For example, a payment may be a gift to thepayee or repayment of a debt to the payee where the payer does notreceive immediate consideration for the payment.

I . Systems

FIG. 1 shows a system that can be used in an embodiment of theinvention. Embodiments of the invention may use some or all of thecomponents shown in FIG. 1.

The illustrated system includes a payer 302 and a first mobile phone 304associated with the payer 302. The payer 302 has a payer account 316 ata payer institution 314. Similarly, the system includes a payee 306 anda second mobile phone 308 associated with the payee 306. The payee 306has a payee account 320 at a payee institution 315.

In this example, the payer institution 314 and payee institution 315 areshown as separate entities. The payer 302 and payee 306 could use thesame financial institution in other embodiments of the invention.

The payer institution 314 and payee institution 315 are typically banksthat manage financial accounts for individuals or businesses. However,they could also be business entities such as retail stores.

The payer 302 and payee 306 may be individuals, or organizations such asbusinesses that are capable of entering into financial transactions(e.g., payment transactions).

The payment processing network 310 may include data processingsubsystems, networks, and operations used to support and deliverauthorization services, exception file services, and clearing andsettlement services. An exemplary payment processing network may includeVisaNet™. Payment processing networks such as VisaNet™ are able toprocess credit card transactions, debit card transactions, and othertypes of financial transactions. VisaNet™, in particular, includes a VIPsystem (Visa Integrated Payments system) which processes authorizationrequests and a Base II system which performs clearing and settlementservices.

The payment processing network 310 may include a payment server computer312. A “server computer” is typically a powerful computer or cluster ofcomputers. For example, a server computer can be a large mainframe, aminicomputer cluster, or a group of servers functioning as a unit. Inone example, a server computer may be a database server coupled to a Webserver. The server computer 312 may form part of any suitable wired orwireless network, including the Internet.

A mobile gateway 332 may be operatively coupled to the paymentprocessing network 310 and may allow the first and second mobile phones304, 306 to communicate with the payment processing network 310. Themobile gateway 332 may be embodied by any suitable combination ofhardware and/or software known to those of ordinary skill in the art.

The system may also comprise a payer client computer 330(a) as well as apayee client computer 330(b). They can be in communication with anenrollment server computer 326 operating a host site 324 (e.g., a Website), via a communication medium 328. The communication medium 328 maycomprise any suitable combination of wired and/or wireless networksincluding the Internet. The enrollment server computer 326 may storealiases in an enrollment and alias database 322. The payment processingnetwork 310 can subsequently identify the payee 302 and payer 306 usingthe information stored in the enrollment and alias database 322. Inother embodiments, there can be a separate enrollment database and aseparate alias database.

FIG. 2 shows typical components or subsystems of a computer apparatus.Such components or any subset of such components may be present invarious components shown in FIG. 1, including the payment servercomputer 312, the enrollment server computer 326, the client computers330(a), 330(b), etc. The subsystems shown in FIG. 2 are interconnectedvia a system bus 775. Additional subsystems such as a printer 774,keyboard 778, fixed disk 779, monitor 776, which is coupled to displayadapter 782, and others are shown. Peripherals and input/output (I/O)devices, which couple to I/O controller 771, can be connected to thecomputer system by any number of means known in the art, such as serialport 777. For example, serial port 777 or external interface 781 can beused to connect the computer apparatus to a wide area network such asthe Internet, a mouse input device, or a scanner. The interconnectionvia system bus 775 allows the central processor 773 to communicate witheach subsystem and to control the execution of instructions from systemmemory 772 or the fixed disk 779, as well as the exchange of informationbetween subsystems. The system memory 772 and/or the fixed disk 779 mayembody a computer readable medium.

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of some components of the first mobilephone 304. Some or all of the components in the first mobile phone 304may also be present in the second mobile phone 308 (illustrated in FIG.1).

The phone 304 may comprise a computer readable medium 304(b) and a body304(h) as shown in FIG. 3. The computer readable medium 304(b) may bepresent within body 304(h), or may be detachable from it. The body304(h) may be in the form a plastic substrate, housing, or otherstructure. The computer readable medium 304(b) may be a memory thatstores data and may be in any suitable form including a magnetic stripe,a memory chip, etc.

The computer readable medium 304(b) may comprise code for performing anyof the functions described herein. For example, it may comprise code forsending a payment request message using a mobile phone to a paymentprocessing network, where the payment request message comprises anamount of money to be paid and an alias, where the alias is associatedwith a payee; code for receiving in response to the payment requestmessage an authentication request message, where the authenticationrequest message is received via the mobile phone; and code for sendingan authentication token in response to the authentication requestmessage.

The phone 304 may further include a contactless element 304(g), which istypically implemented in the form of a semiconductor chip (or other datastorage element) with an associated wireless transfer (e.g., datatransmission) element, such as an antenna. Contactless element 304(g) isassociated with (e.g., embedded within) portable consumer device 304 anddata or control instructions transmitted via a cellular network may beapplied to contactless element 304(g) by means of a contactless elementinterface (not shown). The contactless element interface functions topermit the exchange of data and/or control instructions between themobile device circuitry (and hence the cellular network) and an optionalcontactless element 304(g).

Contactless element 304(g) is capable of transferring and receiving datausing a near field communications (“NFC”) capability (or near fieldcommunications medium) typically in accordance with a standardizedprotocol or data transfer mechanism (e.g., ISO 14443/NFC). Near fieldcommunications capability is a short-range communications capability,such as RFID, Bluetooth™, infra-red, or other data transfer capabilitythat can be used to exchange data between the phone 304 and a paymentprocessing network 26 or it can be used to exchange data between thephone 304 and an access device (e.g., a POS terminal). Thus, the phone304 is capable of communicating and transferring data and/or controlinstructions via both cellular network and near field communicationscapability.

The phone 304 may also include a processor 304(c) (e.g., amicroprocessor) for processing the functions of the phone 304 and adisplay 304(d) to allow a payee to see phone numbers and otherinformation and messages. The phone 304 may further include inputelements 304(e) to allow a payee to input information into the device, aspeaker 304(f) to allow the payee to hear voice communication, music,etc., and a microphone 304(i) to allow the payee to transmit her voicethrough the phone 304. The phone 304 may also include an antenna 304(a)for wireless data transfer (e.g., data transmission).

II. Enrollment Methods

In embodiments of the invention, payers and payees may first enroll inthe system. The payee and the payer may enroll in any suitable manner.For example, referring to FIG. 1, the payee and the payer may enroll inthe system via the host site 324 using the client computers 330(a),330(b). Enrollment information such as name, account number, etc. may bestored by the server computer 326 in the enrollment and alias database322. This information can be used in subsequent payment processes toidentify the payer 302 or the payee 306.

In some cases, a financial institution such as the payee institution 315or the payer institution 314 may “push” pre-enrollment data to theenrollment and alias database 322. The payer institution 314, forexample, may validate the payer 302 ahead of time. The payer institution314 may do this ahead of time, because it knows the payer 302 and thepayer's credit history and account balance information. After the payer302 is enrolled in the system, the payer 302 may set up an appropriatealias to use the system. The same may be true for the payee 306. Thus,in some embodiments, the payer 302 need not do anything to enroll andneed only set up her payment alias.

In embodiments of the invention, a number of aliases may be used.Aliases may include payment processing organization aliases for thepayment processing organization that operates the payment processingnetwork, a payee alias associated with the payee and the payee's phone,and a payer alias associated with the payer and the payer's phone.Examples of payer and payee aliases include “worldtraveler” and“beachbum.” An example of a service alias may be “myvisa” for a paymentprocessing organization such as Visa.

Other aliases that can be registered include portable consumer devicealiases (payment card aliases). For example, the payer 302 may havefirst and second credit cards and they may have the aliases CC1 and CC2.Such portable consumer device aliases may or may not be uniquelyassociated with their holders.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 4, in the first step 202, a payee 306 requestsassignment of an alias. In preferred embodiments, the payee 306 mayspecify a particular alias. However, in other embodiments, a paymentprocessing organization may assign an alias to the payee 306. Toregister an alias, the payee 306 may use the client computer 330(b) tocontact the host site 324 on the server computer 326. The host site 324may comprise a wizard or other mechanism to allow the payer 302 and thepayee 306 to enter information.

In the next step 204, the server computer 326 checks the enrollment andalias database 322 to see if the requested alias is already being usedby another payee or payer. If the requested alias already exists, thenthe payee 306 may be asked to provide another alias (step 212).Alternatively or additionally, the alias registration request may rejectthe proposed alias if it is offensive or is a third party trademark orservicemark.

If the alias has not been previously registered, then the servercomputer 326 may register the requested alias for the payee 208. Thisinformation may be stored in the enrollment and alias database 322. Oncethe alias has been registered for the payee 306, the payment processingorganization may begin allowing the payee to receive payments made usingthe alias (step 210).

This method and other related embodiments of the invention allow forefficient cross-institution payments to be made, by uniquely identifyingan individual, business, etc., via an alias. The aliases may beassociated with many accounts or services operated by an individual orentity, if desired. In some embodiments, these various aliases can beregistered for a fee, and consumers may be charged a registration andrenewal fee for using certain aliases. Other embodiments may provide theenrollment and alias database as a free service, or charge only certainclasses of entities (e.g. charge only payees, or for-profitcorporations).

III. Payment Methods

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart illustrating a payment method according to anembodiment of the invention. In the first step 102 the payer 302 decidesto pay the payee 306 using the first mobile phone 304.

A payer 302 then uses the first mobile phone 304 and sends a paymentrequest message to the payment processing network 310 and the paymentprocessing network 310 receives the payment request message (step 104).The payment request message comprises at least a payment amount and apayee alias. The payment request message may also comprise otherinformation, such as an alias or number identifying a specific financialaccount from which payment is to be made, or a time in the future atwhich payment is to be initiated.

As noted above, the payment request message may take a variety ofdifferent forms. For example, the payment request message could be inthe form of an SMS message. The request could also come in the form ofan email, or a voice interaction with an IVR unit. The request couldalso be made via a software application on the phone, which sends one ormore network packets containing the request data.

In the next step 106, using the enrollment and alias database 322, theserver computer 312 in the payment processing network 310 analyzes thepayment request message and uses the payee alias in the payment requestmessage to identify the payee 306, and also the payer institution 314and the payer account 316.

To provide security to the system, an optional authentication requestmessage is sent from the payment processing network to the first mobilephone 304 operated by the payer 108. The authentication request messagemay be initiated by the payer institution 314 or by a payment processingorganization affiliated with the payment processing network 310. It mayrequest entry of a password, or personal information such as an addressor social security number to verify the identity of the payer 108. Theauthentication request message may take a variety of forms, as describedfor the payment request message 104 above. In preferred embodiments, theauthentication request message will be sent to the payer's mobile phone304. It could also be sent to the payer's client computer 330(a).

In the next step 110, the payer 302 provides an authentication token tothe payment processing network 310. For example, the payer 302 may entera PIN (personal identification number) into the first mobile phone 304and may then send the authentication token back to the paymentprocessing network 310, and the payment processing network 310 may ormay not forward it to the payer institution 314. Other examples ofauthentication tokens include passwords, birthdates, and other personalinformation associated with the payer 302.

The payment processing network 310 (or the payer institution 314) thenverifies the authentication token 112. If the authentication token isinvalid, the payment request in the payment request message may berejected. Alternatively, the payment processing network 310 mayre-verify the authentication token (step 120) by sending anotherauthentication request message to the payer 302 via the first mobilephone 304.

If the payer 302 and/or the first mobile phone 304 are authenticated,the payment processing network 310 may send the payment request messageto the payer institution 314 for approval. The payment request messagemay be re-formed to remove various aliases and may include realinformation, if desired. The payer institution 314 may then approve ofthe payment request if there are sufficient funds and/or credit in thepayer account 316 or disapprove it if there are insufficient funds orcredit. If the payment request is approved, at some point in time (e.g.,immediately or at the end of the day if clearing and settling need totake place), actual funds may be transferred from the payer account 316to the payee account 320 via the payment processing network 310.

Once the funds have been transferred from the payer account 316 to thepayee account 320, a payment notification message may sent to the mobilephone 308 and/or the client computer 330(b) operated by the payee 118after the payment request in the payment request message has beenapproved by the payer institution 314.

In a specific example, a payer 302 such as Jane and a payee 306 such asJohn register on the host site 324 run on a remote server computer 326using their client computers 330(a), 330(b).

As shown in FIG. 5, Jane registers personal information 502 includingher name, mobile telephone number, first credit card account number,second credit card account number, and a personal alias. John maysimilarly register his personal information 504. In this example, Janecreates the personal alias “worldtraveler,” while John creates thepersonal alias “beachbum.”

After registering, a payment processing organization may provide bothJohn and Jane with a phone number for the service that will facilitatefurther payment processing. In other embodiments, the payment processingorganization may provide John and Jane with a service alias instead ofor in addition to the service phone number. For example, instead ofproviding John and Jane with the service phone number 555-555-5555, thepayment processing organization may provide the service alias “myvisa”to John and Jane. The service alias may be referred to as a “short-code”in some cases, and may include a string of characters of variablelength.

In an exemplary transaction, Jane may be a payer 302 and wants to pay$15.00 to a payee 306 named John. Payee Jane 302 initiates a payment toJohn by entering the payment request message “myvisa pay beachbum$15.00” into her phone 304, and sending the message via SMS to theserver computer 312 in the payment processing network 310 via the mobilegateway 332. The alias “beachbum” is used instead of John's phonenumber. The service alias “myvisa” is used instead of the phone numberof the service.

Jane may also use a portable consumer device alias such as “CC2” toindicate the particular credit card that Jane wants to use to pay John.For example, payee Jane 302 may enter the payment request message“myvisa pay beachbum $15.00 CC2” into her phone 304 to indicate that hersecond credit card is to be used to make the intended payment. Jane mayalternatively or additionally designate a default credit card accountnumber.

After entering the payment request message “myvisa pay beachbum $15.00CC2” into her mobile phone 304, the payment request message is sent fromher phone 304 to the payment processing network 310 (e.g., as describedabove), and then (in this example) to an issuer of the credit card (orother portable consumer device). In this example, the issuer of thecredit card may be the payer institution 314.

The payment processing network 310 may receive the payment requestmessage and may then optionally respond by sending an an authenticationrequest message to the payer 302. In this example, an authenticationrequest message is sent in the form of a call from an interactive voiceresponse unit (IVR) at a telecom server or the like, which asks payerJane 302 to enter her mobile PIN (personal identification number) 510.After payer Jane 302 enters the correct PIN into her phone 304, thepayer institution 314 and/or the server computer 312 in the paymentprocessing network 310 can then analyze the payment request message andcan approve or decline the payment request. If the payment request isapproved, appropriate funds may be transferred to the payee account 320at the payee institution 315. For example, payee John's portableconsumer device account (e.g., credit card account) at John's bank(e.g., the payee institution 315) can be credited with the paymentamount. Payer Jane's account 316 can be subsequently debited for thepayment amount.

In some embodiments, a payment notification message in the form of anSMS, e-mail, or some other type of message may be sent to the payee'smobile phone 308, informing the payee John 306 that a payment from thepayee John 302 has been made. In preferred embodiments, the paymentnotification message may be sent to payee John's mobile phone 308, butit could be sent to the client computer 330(b) operated by the payeeJohn 306.

Embodiments of the invention have a number of advantages. First, the useof an alias allows for a transaction to be completed while keeping thepersonal information of the transacting parties confidential. This isuseful because, for example, a payer may not want to disclose his or herphone number to a payee, or vice versa. Second, the alias allows forpayments to be made even if a payee's telephone number or financialaccount changes. A payer may thus store a list of aliases for payeeswith whom the payer frequently does business, and may initiate repeatedpayments without having to verify that the payee's telephone number isthe same. Third, aliases tend to be much easier to remember than eitherphone numbers or financial account numbers. Consequently, embodiments ofthe invention will be easier to use than other methods. Fourth,embodiments of the invention allow for many accounts to be accessed froma single mobile phone, eliminating the need to carry a large number ofportable consumer devices.

Any of the above-described methods or steps of such methods may beembodied as software code to be executed by a processor of the servercomputer or any other suitable combination of devices using any suitablecomputer language such as, for example, Java, C++ or Perl using, forexample, conventional or object-oriented techniques. The software codemay be stored as a series of instructions or commands on a computerreadable medium, such as, a random access memory (RAM), a read onlymemory (ROM), a magnetic medium such as a hard-drive or a floppy disk,or an optical medium such as a CD-ROM.

It should be understood that the present invention can be implemented inthe form of control logic, in a modular or integrated manner, usingsoftware, hardware or a combination of both. Based on the disclosure andteachings provided herein, a person of ordinary skill in the art willappreciate other ways and/or methods to implement the present invention.

Any of the above-described embodiments and/or any features thereof maybe combined with any other embodiment(s) and/or feature(s) withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention.

The above description is illustrative and is not restrictive. Manyvariations of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in theart upon review of the disclosure. The scope of the invention should,therefore, be determined not with reference to the above description,but instead should be determined with reference to the pending claimsalong with their full scope or equivalents.

A recitation of “a”, “an” or “the” is intended to mean “one or more”unless specifically indicated to the contrary.

1. A method for conducting a transaction comprising: receiving a paymentrequest message, at a server computer, from a mobile phone operated by apayer, wherein the payment request message includes a request to pay apayee a predetermined amount of money, and wherein the payment requestmessage comprises a combination of a personal alias associated with thepayee, a payment card alias, and a transaction amount, and wherein thepersonal alias allows the personal information of the payee to remainconfidential; analyzing the payment request message, using the servercomputer, to determine if the payer is authorized to pay the payee; andsending a payment notification message, using the server computer, tothe payee indicating that a payment from the payer to the payee has beenmade.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: sending anauthentication request message to the payer, wherein the authenticationrequest message includes a message asking the payer to enter a PIN; andreceiving the PIN.
 3. A computer readable medium comprising code for:receiving a payment request message from a mobile phone operated by apayer, wherein the payment request message includes a request to pay apayee a predetermined amount of money, and wherein the payment requestmessage comprises a combination of a personal alias associated with thepayee, a payment card alias, and a transaction amount, and wherein thepersonal alias allows the personal information of the payee to remainconfidential; analyzing the payment request message to determine if thepayer is authorized to pay the payee; and sending a payment notificationmessage to the payee indicating that a payment from the payer to thepayee has been made.
 4. A server computer comprising a computer readablemedium comprising: code for receiving a payment request message from amobile phone operated by a payer, wherein the payment request messageincludes a request to pay a payee a predetermined amount of money, andwherein the payment request message comprises a combination of apersonal alias associated with the payee, a payment card alias, and atransaction amount, and wherein the personal alias allows the personalinformation of the payee to remain confidential; code for analyzing thepayment request message to determine if the payer is authorized to paythe payee; and code for sending a payment notification message to thepayee indicating that a payment from the payer to the payee has beenmade.
 5. A system comprising: a server computer comprising a computerreadable medium comprising: code for receiving a payment request messagefrom a mobile phone operated by a payer, wherein the payment requestmessage includes a request to pay a payee a predetermined amount ofmoney, and wherein the payment request message comprises a combinationof a personal alias associated with the payee, a payment card alias, anda transaction amount, and wherein the personal alias allows the personalinformation of the payee to remain confidential; code for analyzing thepayment request message to determine if the payer is authorized to paythe payee; and code for sending a payment notification message to thepayee indicating that a payment from the payer to the payee has beenmade; and a mobile phone.
 6. A method for conducting a transactioncomprising: receiving a payment request message, at a server computer,from a payer, the payment request message comprising a combination of anamount of money to be paid to a payee, an alias associated with thepayee, and a payment card alias, and wherein the alias associated withthe payee allows the personal information of the payee to remainconfidential, where the payment request message is sent by the payer viaa mobile phone operated by the payer; sending an authentication requestmessage, using the server computer, to the mobile phone in response tothe payment request message, where the authentication request message issent to the mobile phone; receiving an authentication token, at theserver computer, from the payer in response to sending theauthentication request message, where the authentication token is sentby the payer using the mobile phone; verifying that the authenticationtoken is associated with the payer, using the server computer; and ifthe authentication token is verified as being associated with the payer,then initiating a payment, using the server computer, for the amount ofmoney to the payee using the alias.
 7. The method according to claim 6,wherein the mobile phone is a first mobile phone, and wherein the methodfurther comprises: sending an electronic notification of the payment toa second phone mobile operated by the payee.
 8. The method according toclaim 6, where the payment request message is in the form of a textmessage.
 9. The method according to claim 6, where the payment requestmessage is in the form of an email.
 10. The method according to claim 6,where the authentication request message comprises a telephone call madeby an electronic interactive voice response unit.
 11. The method ofclaim 6, where the authentication token comprises a password.
 12. Themethod of claim 6, where the authentication token comprises a piece ofpersonal information associated with the payee.
 13. A method forregistering an alias comprising: receiving a registration request, at aserver computer, from a payee to create an alias uniquely associatedwith that payee, where the request specifies the alias requested, andwherein the payee operates a mobile phone and can receive or makepayments using the alias and mobile phone, and wherein the alias allowsthe personal information of the payee to remain confidential; comparingthe alias, using the server computer, with other previously registeredaliases associated with other payees; and if the requested alias has notalready been associated with another payee, registering the alias withthe payee, using the server computer,.
 14. A server computer comprisinga computer readable medium comprising: code for receiving a registrationrequest from a payee to create an alias uniquely associated with thatpayee, where the request specifies the alias requested, and wherein thepayee operates a mobile phone and can receive or make payments using thealias and mobile phone and wherein the alias allows the personalinformation of the payee to remain confidential; code for comparing thealias with other previously registered aliases associated with otherpayees; and code for if the requested alias has not already beenassociated with another payee, registering the alias with the payee. 15.A method for conducting a transaction comprising: sending a paymentrequest message using a mobile phone to a payment processing network,where the payment request message comprises a combination of a paymentcard alias, an amount of money to be paid and an alias, where the aliasis associated with a payee, and wherein the alias associated with thepayee allows the personal information of the payee to remainconfidential; receiving in response to the payment request message anauthentication request message, where the authentication request messageis received via the mobile phone; and sending an authentication token inresponse to the authentication request message, using the mobile phone.16. The method according to claim 15, where the payment request messageis in the form of a text message.
 17. The method according to claim 15,where the payment request message is in the form of an email.
 18. Themethod according to claim 15, where the authentication request messagecomprises a telephone call made by an electronic interactive voiceresponse unit.
 19. The method of claim 15, where the authenticationtoken comprises a password.
 20. The method of claim 15, where theauthentication token comprises a piece of personal informationassociated with the consumer.
 21. A computer readable medium comprisingcode for: sending a payment request message using a mobile phone to apayment processing network, where the payment request message comprisesa combination of a payment card alias, an amount of money to be paid andan alias, where the alias is associated with a payee, and wherein thealias associated with the payee allows the personal information of thepayee to remain confidential; receiving in response to the paymentrequest message an authentication request message, where theauthentication request message is received via the mobile phone; andsending an authentication token in response to the authenticationrequest message.
 22. A phone comprising a computer readable mediumcomprising: sending a payment request message using a mobile phone to apayment processing network, where the payment request message comprisesa combination of a payment card alias, an amount of money to be paid andan alias, where the alias is associated with a payee, and wherein thealias associated with the payee allows the personal information of thepayee to remain confidential; receiving in response to the paymentrequest message an authentication request message, where theauthentication request message is received via the mobile phone; andsending an authentication token in response to the authenticationrequest message.
 23. The method of claim 1 wherein the payment requestmessage further comprises a payment processing organization alias. 24.The method of claim 6 wherein the payment request message furthercomprises a payment processing organization alias.
 25. The method ofclaim 15 wherein the payment request message further comprises a paymentprocessing organization alias.
 26. The phone of claim 22 wherein thepayment request message further comprises a payment processingorganization alias.
 27. The method of claim 1 wherein the paymentrequest message further comprises a payer alias.
 28. The method of claim6 wherein the payment request message further comprises a payer alias.29. The method of claim 15 wherein the payment request message furthercomprises a payer alias.
 30. The phone of claim 22 wherein the paymentrequest message further comprises a payer alias.